Question
by lee-kins
Summary: Just a little conversation between friends... Spoilers up to chapter 101 in the manga... rated for language, to be safe I suppose...


Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket.

Warning: Spoilers to chapter 101 in the manga, I suppose. -.-;;

Note: This is the first fanfic that I'm posting, so I'm nervous, I don't know why. It's just a silly thing anyway, fanfiction, isn't it? Ah well...

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**Question...**

I sat leaning against the door frame looking out over Hatori's Zen garden. I fingered my injury lightly until Ha'ri came back into the room. He handed me a cigarette. It always amazed me. The man is a doctor and he smokes like a fucking chimney. Accepting it, and the accompanying lighter, I let out a sigh. Hatori sat in his big fancy leather chair and turned to face me. His eyes narrowed in on my bleeding lip.

"So, what did you say to her this time?" he asked me. I let out a bitter laugh.

"All I did was ask a question," I answered. We were quiet for a little bit. Our time together was always riddled with these random silences. It was as if I would say something, and Hatori would have to dissect it in his mind, looking for some deeper meaning. As if I was that deep to begin with.

"What did you ask her?" he said finally. I inhaled through my cigarette to mourn our broken silence and answered.

"We were sitting there, and I said, 'If I could find a way to break the curse, would you let me?' Then she cracked me across the face nice and hard. I should have seen it coming honestly. Then she got up and stood over me, looking down at me like I was her dog and I'd just made on the carpet."

"Essentially," Hatori started. I blew smoke in his face to quiet him.

"Anyway, she stared down at me and said in this honey sweet voice, 'My darling Shigure. Do you really want to leave me so badly?' 'No,' I said. 'It's nothing like that at all.' Then she got down on all fours and was eye level with me. This sadistic grin spread across her face. She said, 'What if I told you, that the only way to break the curse, is if the person who loves me the most, kills me? Would you be the one to do it?'"

I thumbed the end of my cigarette while I let the story sink into Ha'ri. He took a long drag on his own cigarette and blew it out slowly. He leaned forward in his chair, his elbows resting on his knees.

"Either way you answer, she'd punish you," he said. I nodded. Hatori was always so good at finding the core of things. "Either you don't love her enough, so she get's angry, or you're willing to kill her, in which case she wouldn't trust you."

"Or," I venture, "it's a dare."

"A dare?" Hatori seemed shocked at my comment. I don't know why.

"She could have been testing me. Daring me to kill her, put her out of this miserable, artificial life you're providing her with."

"Shigure…" His voice became sharper. His eyes were narrow and angry. I waved my hand as if to brush the topic away.

"I'm sorry, Ha'ri, I didn't mean it that way." We were quiet again. I think our conversations are filled more with the things we don't say, than the things we do.

Several cigarette puffs later, Hatori said, "So, how did you answer her?"

"I didn't. Thankfully, I didn't get the chance. She asked the question and Kureno came in, as if on cue. So I left. I really can't stand to be in the same room as that man."

"I'm sure he feels the same way about you."

"Probably. I wonder though. If that were the way to break the curse, who would do it. Me, or Kureno?"

"Why would Kureno do it? From what you told me, he doesn't suffer the way we do. He has no reason to break the curse."

"I guess it would be me then, hmm?" Hatori grunted in reply. He probably didn't want to voice any thoughts he might be having, in case hearing them would make them real.

I ran a hand over my face and put out my cigarette on the deck. I stood up and slipped my sandals back on. As I was about to hop off of the deck into the garden to leave, Hatori called after me.

"Shigure," he said. "I don't tend to think of you as a moral person, or even a good person half the time. But I could never think of you as a murderer. Don't take what she said to heart. She's just playing with you."

"I know that, Ha'ri," I said with a grin. "Don't worry. I could never kill her. The blood on my hands would make my keyboard sticky." Flashing another grin I turned to leave, seeing Hatori drop his face into his palms as I did.

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Author's Note: Thank you so much to the people who reviewed XD! I was actually surprised to see them and they made me very happy :-) It was exciting. So again, thanks!

Also,I should have mentioned this before, but this is a oneshot, really. Unless I think of a way to continue the story. It could happen. I'm just not actively thinking of ways to continue this snippet.


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